Welcome to DemocracyFest 2005!
DemocracyforTexas.Org
Democracy Fest, a gathering of
progressives from around the country hosted by DFT and co-sponsored by
My Vote is My Voice, will be held June 17-19 in Austin.
Down in
Texas, we know a bit about politics. We’re the home of Sam Rayburn,
LBJ, Barbara Jordan, Jim Hightower, Ann Richards—and those other guys.
You may have an image in your mind of us that has something to do with
horses, oil wells, and cactus. We have a different image of ourselves—a
lot of people working really hard to come out from under the aberration
that turned our blue state temporarily red. In other words, we’re
taking our state back for the people it really belongs to—us!
And
Austin? During the redistricting mess, Tom DeLay’s boys referred to us
as “The People’s Republic of Austin.” Perhaps that was payback for
voting for Al Gore in the 2000 election. Or it could have been our lack
of reverence for the biennial meeting of the legislature in our midst.
Or maybe it was because of our history of consistently electing the
most liberal leaders in the state. You might say we’re “a little
difficult.”
But
we’re not just all about politics. We not so modestly call ourselves
“The Live Music Capital of the World.” We’re the heart of the Texas
Hill Country; the location of Town Lake, Barton Springs, and the LBJ
Presidential Library; and home to the largest urban bat colony in the
world. And when we say “Keep Austin weird,” we mean it.
In
short, we’re the perfect place for DemocracyFest. We’re working hard on
the “Democracy” part. “Fest?” We’ve got that perfected. And we're
mighty pleased to have been chosen to co-sponsor DemocracyFest 2005
with My Vote is My Voice.
Read on… and register early!
When: The weekend of June 17–19
Where: Austin, Texas
Workshop sessions on the campus of historic Huston-Tillotson College;
Saturday evening dinner/entertainment at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q.
Workshop focus: Beyond Basic Training
We
guarantee you'll learn something new. We promise you won't hear about
the same old stuff. We even promise you'll learn something you didn't
know about databases, emailing, computers, the internet, and more. Some
ideas for workshop sessions include the following. And we want to hear
yours!
•
Changing the Party from the Inside: Democracy for Texas’ political
director, former State Rep. Glen Maxey, on turning red states blue (or
at least purple).
• Changing the Party from the Outside: Anything Charlie Grapski wants to talk about.
• Balancing Activism with Family/Professional Life: You know what we mean.
•
Growing the Grassroots: Exchange of ideas/strategies from participants,
with Grassroots for America invited to lead the session.
• Don't Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate: Inspired
by the book of the same title by famed UC Berkeley linguist and BFA
guest blogger George Lakoff, this session will address ways we as
progressives can use language more effectively to convey our positions
and vision to voters. A member of the Rockridge Institute, headed by
Dr. Lakoff, will lead the discussion.
• ¡Juntos, Sí Podemos! Learning from Latinos for America about successful outreach to minority communities.
• What Does It Mean to Be a Progressive? Historical perspectives plus open discussion.
•
Building a Community Website: Tips and tricks for making your website
all that it can be. Templates used in this session will be included on
the workshop CD.
Ticket price: $55/person. Includes:
• CD with materials from all workshop sessions
• DemocracyFest T-shirt
• Saturday morning breakfast (You’ll be craving “breakfast tacos” from now on!)
• Saturday night dinner at world-famous Stubb’s Bar-B-Q with major speakers
and musical guests. (Vegetarian dinner options available.)
(click here for more information)
(click here to register)
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